Lin Minghai was actually a little dazed, too. In all this time, it was the first time he had heard her say so much.
He had not expected Second Aunt to be so good with words. Compliments rolled off her tongue, and they were pleasant to hear.
But Old Madam Liu and the other woman did not feel the same way. They felt as though something were stuck in their throats, and as though they were sitting on pins and needles. In the end, they could bear it no longer!
Old Madam Liu’s expression darkened. “Second Son’s Wife, the pigweed hasn’t been cut yet. Take Erya to cut some.”
Wang Ya smiled. “Mother, San Ya and Si Ya have already gone…”
Old Madam Liu cut her off. “The two pigs at home are eating more and more these days. What San Ya and Si Ya cut isn’t enough. Hurry up and go!”
In the end, Wang Ya left the main room “unwillingly” and “looking back every three steps.”
Besides, if she had not left, she would not have been able to think of anything else to praise Lin Minghai for.
Without paying any attention to the warm and affectionate scene between the three generations in the main room, the mother and daughter, who had finished hanging out the laundry, took their baskets and sickles and went out.
When they reached their secret base, Lin Xiaowei said to her mother with a laugh, “Mother, you didn’t see the looks on those two women’s faces just now. They looked as if you had come to compete for affection. I’m dying of laughter!”
Lin Minghao was drying the medicinal herbs he had just washed. “Sis, did Lin Minghai come back?”
Lin Xiaowei nodded. “He did. We were just driven out because of him!”
At that moment, a commotion came from the entrance to the valley. It was Lin Changsong, carrying a brilliantly colored pheasant as he walked in.
They had really managed to trap one! The three of them were thrilled. At last, they had meat again!
At that moment, Lin Minghai or no Lin Minghai was no longer important. How could he compare with this chicken?
Half an hour later, the chicken was bubbling away in a clay pot. There were yams and mushrooms in it as well. Given their circumstances, they had simply stewed everything together in one pot.
Lin Xiaowei breathed in the fragrant aroma filling the air and swallowed her saliva as she made bamboo bowls and chopsticks.
Lin Changsong and Lin Minghao were digging up medicinal herbs elsewhere in the valley.
Wang Ya sighed. “When we eat the meat later, we’ll take off our outer clothes.”
As she polished the rim of a bowl with horsetail grass, Lin Xiaowei replied, “Mother, are you worried they’ll smell the meat on us?”
Wang Ya nodded. In an era when people lacked oil and meat, even the slightest smell of meat on someone’s body was easy for others to detect.
Lin Xiaowei handed the polished bamboo bowl to her mother to look at. “Then we’ll go back later. I just saw Eldest Uncle return after buying some meat. When the time comes, we’ll go to the kitchen first and get the smell of meat on us.”
They really were acting like thieves. Lin Xiaowei looked at the clothes on her body. They had been here for so many days, yet she and her mother had not even managed to take a proper bath.
Lin Xiaowei said, “Once we move out after the family splits up, I’ll make some soap for us to use at home!”
Wang Ya also missed soap, shower gel, and the like, so she strongly supported her daughter’s decision. Of course, what she missed most of all was sanitary pads. Nothing else even came close!
At the mouth of the cave, the four of them each held a bamboo bowl.
Although the only seasoning was salt, the mushrooms Xiaowei had picked made the chicken soup exceptionally fresh. On top of that, their bodies were desperately lacking meat, so the whole family ate with such relish that they sucked every last bit of meat from the bones!
After they had eaten their fill, they recalled what Minghao had heard beneath the window the previous night.
“It looks like if Lin Minghai hadn’t come back today, Old Madam Liu would have split up the family.”
Lin Changsong nodded. “With how ‘diligent’ you were today, I expect that once Lin Minghai leaves tomorrow, she’ll bring up the matter of splitting the family.”
Lin Minghao said happily, “Then we can split up the family tomorrow!”
“If everything goes smoothly, we can split up tomorrow,” Lin Xiaowei said.
“The county examination hasn’t even begun yet,” Lin Changsong said. “If Old Madam Liu splits up the family before then, no one will criticize her. But if Lin Minghai passes the county examination and the prefectural examination, obtains an academic title, and then splits up the family, his reputation will suffer.”
By then, people would say that Lin Minghai had split up the family as soon as he obtained an academic title, abandoning the uncles who had supported him. They would call him heartless and ungrateful.
Therefore, Old Madam Liu would certainly split up the family before the county examination. She was also afraid that once Lin Minghai became a tongsheng, the Second Branch would cling to him even more tightly.
“From the old woman’s meaning, it sounds as though the Third Branch will be driven out along with us,” Wang Ya said. “It’s one thing for us to stir things up and drag our feet when we work, but if the Third Branch is also driven out, who will work for them?”
Lin Changsong let out a dry laugh. “My guess is that the old woman truly does intend to drive us out, but she’ll only chase us out of the old Lin household. She’ll let the Third Branch continue living there and keep working like oxen and horses for them.”
“The Third Branch would agree to that?” Lin Minghao asked.
Lin Xiaowei rubbed her little brother’s clever yet foolish head. “The Third Branch doesn’t even want to split up the family.”
Wang Ya nodded. “Lin Changgen is even more honest and simple. Shen Shi has no confidence because she hasn’t given birth to a son. They’re traditional people from ancient times, and they’re counting on their two nephews to support them in their old age and arrange their funerals.”
Lin Xiaowei looked at her younger brother. “Do you understand now?”
Lin Minghao… He was not stupid. How could he fail to understand after she had put it that way? It was just that the old woman was too wicked. She understood her youngest son and had him completely under her thumb.
“Then should we do something?” Wang Ya asked.
“I’ll give Third Brother a warning,” Lin Changsong said. “After all, we’re all suffering together in this world. Whether he can take it to heart will be up to fate.”
“After these past few days together, Third Sister-in-Law seems like a decent person, and the girls are quite capable too.”
Lin Changsong nodded. “If they can break away from the old Lin household, we’ll help them out in the future.”
In his memories, there were only scenes of the two brothers relying on each other to survive. During the five days they had been imprisoned before, Lin Changgen had also secretly brought them water several times. Otherwise, the family of four would have died even sooner.
The four of them carefully rinsed their mouths. Lin Changsong still had to go to the fields, so he took a piece of yam that had been roasted while the chicken was stewing and went down the mountain.
Wang Ya and the others cut more pigweed and gathered some firewood before returning home when it was nearly time.
As soon as the three of them returned, they headed straight for the kitchen. Meat was stewing inside.
When Old Madam Liu saw the group of debt collectors heading toward the kitchen, her eyes twitched violently. Afraid they would steal the meat, she chased after them and followed them inside.
“What are you doing? What are you doing?”
Wang Ya put on an ingratiating smile. “Mother, I was worried that Third Sister-in-Law wouldn’t be able to manage everything…”
“We don’t need you! All of you, get out! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re scheming.”
After tangling with her for a while, the three of them were finally driven out of the kitchen, covered in the smell of meat.
Meanwhile, Lin Changsong had returned to the fields. Old Man Lin had gone to haul manure, and Lin Changgen was turning over the soil.
As for his second brother, who had only just returned after disappearing for so long, Lin Changgen said nothing at all.
Lin Changsong picked up a hoe and began turning over the soil beside him. He thought that they really needed to buy an ox. How much labor that would save!
Turning over the soil was exhausting work. Lin Changgen had eaten only a little that morning, and now he was both hungry and tired. Just as he was gritting his teeth and forcing himself to continue, a roasted yam was suddenly held out to him from the side.
Lin Changgen froze for a moment. Lin Changsong extended it toward him again. “Eat it.”
Lin Changgen had never eaten anything like this before, but he carefully took it, peeled it, and bit into it. It was fragrant, sweet, soft, and glutinous.
“Second Brother, what is this?”
“Yam. It’s a medicinal herb, but it’s also a vegetable.”
Lin Changgen thought that his second brother really did know a great deal. He ate only a few bites before carefully putting the rest into his pocket.
When he saw his second brother looking at him, Lin Changgen said awkwardly, “It’s too delicious. I’ll take it back for my wife and nieces to taste.”
Lin Changsong sighed. Although this man was spineless, he knew how to treat his wife and daughters well. That meant there was a way to get through to him.
He glanced around. Then, lowering his voice, he said, “Third Brother, I’ll tell you the truth.”
Lin Changgen looked at his second brother in confusion.
“Mother and the First Branch have been secretly discussing driving our two families out.”
It struck Lin Changgen like a bolt from the blue. “Wha… What?!”
“So,” Lin Changsong said, “have you ever thought about how you’ll live if the family splits up?”